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Hillel Silverman, longtime rabbi whose congregant killed JFK’s assassin, is dead at 99
(JTA) — “If you want to know about my brother, Jack Ruby, you should talk to Hillel Silverman. He was our rabbi in Dallas for 10 years before President Kennedy’s assassination, and he knew Jack very well.”
It was 1976, and I had convinced Eva Rubenstein Grant — a loud woman with an even louder red wig — to appear on an ABC program to speak about her brother, who fatally shot John F. Kennedy’s alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald on live television 13 years earlier.
It was years, however, before I was able to speak to Rabbi Silverman, for a TV program I was producing about the JFK assassination. Our conversation in 1991 was the first of several chats we had about Ruby (and other topics) and the glancing role Silverman played in the national trauma surrounding the president’s murder. He was one of the last surviving witnesses who testified in 1964 before the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination.
The Kennedy assassination was a relatively minor aspect of a 70-year career in the rabbinate, during which Silverman served as the founding rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel in Dallas, and then as the senior rabbi at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles for 16 years, among other pulpits.
Silverman, the son of a prominent Conservative rabbi, died in Los Angeles this week of pneumonia at the age of 99. It was one month after he celebrated his birthday — and the birth of a great-grandson and the upcoming wedding of a grandchild — at Valley Beth Shalom in Los Angeles, where in his last official role he served as a visiting scholar.
Silverman was spiritual leader of Shearith Israel in Dallas from 1954 to 1964; Jack Ruby, a nightclub owner with links to the Mafia, was one of his congregants. Silverman told me in 2013, on the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy and Oswald murders, that Ruby would attend services to say Kaddish, the memorial prayer, for his father.
“He came to the minyan one day with a cast on his arm,” Silverman recalled. “I said, Jack, what happened? He said, ‘In my club, somebody was very raucous, and I was the bouncer.’”
Nov. 22, 1963, the day Oswald shot and killed Kennedy, was a Friday. Evening services at the synagogue “became a memorial service for the president,” Silverman said. “Jack was there. People were either irate or in tears, and Jack was neither. He came over and said, ‘Good Shabbos, rabbi. Thank you for visiting my sister Eva in the hospital last week.’ I thought that was rather peculiar.”
Two days later, Silverman switched on the radio and heard that a “Jack Rubenstein” had just killed the alleged assassin. The Warren Commission would later come to the still-disputed conclusion that Ruby acted alone — quashing rumors of a conspiracy — and shot Oswald on impulse and out of grief over Kennedy’s assassination.
“I was shocked. I visited him the next day in jail, and I said ‘Why, Jack, why?’ He said, ‘I did it for the American people.’”
I interrupted Silverman at that point, as I’d read other reports in which Ruby said he did it “to show that Jews had guts.” The rabbi sighed. “Yes, he mentioned that. But I don’t like to mention it. I think he said, ‘I did it for the Jewish people.’ But I’ve tried to wipe that statement from my mind.”
Silverman vividly described his weekly jailhouse visits to his now-notorious congregant, who was found guilty of murdering Oswald and who died in prison from lung cancer four years after the assassination. “In prison, Jack deteriorated psychologically,” Silverman recalled. “One time I walked in and he said, ‘Come on, rabbi, duck underneath the table. They’re pouring oil on the Jews and setting it on fire.’ He was quite psychotic.”
Jack Ruby, right, shoots Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Nov. 25, 1963. (Dallas Times Herald)
Hillel Emanuel Silverman was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1924 to Althea, a prolific author, and Rabbi Morris Silverman, a prominent Conservative rabbi who edited the Shabbat and High Holiday prayer books used by the movement for more than half a century.
Hillel was ordained as a Conservative rabbi after graduating from Yale University. Following his service as a Navy chaplain during the Korean War, he led the congregations in Dallas and Los Angeles, and served 20 years as a spiritual leader of Temple Sholom in Greenwich, Connecticut.
He and his first wife Devora had three children: Gila Rutta, Dr. Sharon Pollock and Jonathan Silverman, the actor best known for films such as “Weekend at Bernie’s” and “Brighton Beach Memoirs.” He is survived by his wife of over 40 years, Roberta Silverman, his three children, three step-children (David Smotrich, Debbie Diamond and Arona Smotrich), 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Silverman wrote or co-edited a dozen books, and during a visit when he was 95 told me, “I think I still have one more in me.” He was the recipient of numerous awards, including a Medal of Honor from Israel’s then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin for his “distinguished service to Israel and the Jewish people.” He was past president of the Zionist Organization of America, Southwest Region.
In his 90s, he continued to officiate at High Holiday services in southern California, at times with one of his grandchildren, Rabbi Matt Rutta.
When the COVID pandemic shut down in-person classes, Silverman conducted weekly online Torah study sessions with Rabbi Ed Feinstein of Valley Beth Shalom synagogue. Sharp-eyed participants would notice a movie poster on the wall behind Silverman for “Weekend at Bernie’s II,” in which he appeared briefly as a restaurant maitre d’.
My final visit with Rabbi Silverman took place last October. He was in a wheelchair, living with his daughter Sharon and son-in-law Mark, and his mind and sense of humor remained as sharp as ever. Last month, I was thrilled to receive a birthday email from him, recalling our discussions about Ruby and wishing me continued success in my career. “Since I am thirty years ahead of you, I can guarantee many more productive, enjoyable years!” he wrote.
During his final hospitalization, a family member at his bedside asked about the rabbi’s former congregant one last time: Did Ruby have anything to do with a conspiracy?
The family shared a video of that moment with me, in which Silverman adjusts his oxygen mask, shakes his head and firmly says, “No!”
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Pennsylvania principal to be fired over antisemitic voicemail: ‘They control the banks’
A Pennsylvania elementary school principal is facing termination by his school district after he accidentally recorded himself making antisemitic remarks in a voicemail to a Jewish parent.
Philip Leddy, the principal of the Lower Gwynedd Elementary School in Montgomery County, confirmed to the Wissahickon School District that he had made the antisemitic remarks heard on the voicemail message Friday morning after he believed he had disconnected the call, according to an email sent to the district’s parents.
In the recording, Leddy made a reference to “Jew camp,” and told another staff member at the school that the parent has “Jew money” and claimed that “they control the banks,” according to the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. Later, when asked whether the parent was a lawyer, Leddy responded, “the odds are probably good.”
“What is most concerning is not only the language itself, but the mindset it reflects,” the federation wrote in a statement. “The comments rely on well-known antisemitic stereotypes that reduce a parent to caricature and signal hostility rather than respect. For a family entrusting their child to a school community, hearing this kind of language, particularly from a principal, is profoundly unsettling.”
Leddy was hired as the principal for the Lower Gwynedd Elementary School in 2023 after previously serving as committee chair of the district’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, according to a since-deleted profile for him on the school’s website.
In an email to the Wissahickon School District, Superintendent Mwenyewe Dawan wrote that the district’s administrative team was recommending immediate termination of Leddy, pending an “informal private hearing on Monday morning.”
The school district did not immediately respond to a request for an update on the hearing from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency Monday morning.
Dawan wrote that Leddy had been placed on administrative leave, and that another staff member heard on the call was also placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.
“The fact that any employees entrusted with the care and well-being of students could make, or passively tolerate, such remarks raise concerns that extend beyond the conduct of a single individual,” wrote Dawan. “This incident underscores concerns for broader, systemic issues related to antisemitism that must be examined and addressed.”
The Jewish parent, who requested anonymity, told Action News 6ABC that Leddy had initially called him in response to an email about an incident involving his daughter.
“I couldn’t believe it, like I was seeing Jew this, Jew that, and I was thinking, ‘This can’t be the principal leaving a voicemail,’” the parent told Action News 6ABC.
Rabbi Kevin Lefkowitz, the leader of Tiferet Bet Israel, a Conservative congregation in Montgomery County, told Action News 6ABC that Leddy’s rhetoric had “boiled my blood.”
“He’s in charge of keeping our kids safe. For it to come out of his mouth so carelessly, so easily, it boiled my blood,” Lefkowitz said.
The incident comes one month after the House Education and Workforce Committee launched an investigation into the School District of Philadelphia for allegedly promoting a hostile environment for Jewish K-12 students.
In 2024, Pennsylvania saw 465 antisemitic incidents, marking a 18% rise from 2023, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s annual antisemitism audit.
“No one promoting antisemitic rhetoric should be leading and teaching our children,” said Andrew Goretsky, the senior regional director of ADL Philadelphia, in a post on Facebook. “We are urging them to fully investigate the situation, take the appropriate systemic action, and meet with Jewish families to begin the process of rebuilding trust.”
In her email to the district community, Dawan added that the school had already partnered with the ADL to provide trainings on antisemitism and bias response to the district’s administration in November and December, and that the trainings would be provided to the rest of its teachers and staff as planned.
‘While this incident is clearly deeply damaging, upsetting, and concerning, it is important to remember that our staff as a whole are deeply caring, respectful, and sensitive,” wrote Dawan. “I do not believe the actions and words of this principal reflect the views of our staff. One person’s hateful actions should not negatively impact the way our community views the rest of our staff.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Pennsylvania principal to be fired over antisemitic voicemail: ‘They control the banks’ appeared first on The Forward.
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‘Jew Money’: Pennsylvania School District Principal Faces Termination Over Antisemitic Voicemail
Philip Leddy, principal of Lower Gwynedd Elementary School in Pennsylvania, faces termination for allegedly making antisemitic comments. Photo: Screenshot
The Wissahickon School District (WSD) in Pennsylvania has initiated termination proceedings against a school principal who allegedly, and accidentally, left an antisemitic voicemail on the answering machine service of a Jewish parent, in another blow to a district already under scrutiny for previous instances of alleged anti-Jewish outrages.
Philip Leddy, principal of Lower Gwynedd Elementary School, spoke of a “Jew camp,” “Jew money,” and argued that Jews “control the banks” in reference to a Jewish parent he had called but did not reach, according to local media reports. The remarks were recorded when Leddy forgot to hang up his line after the parent, whom he at one point suggested is most likely an attorney for being Jewish, did not take the call. Having assumed that what he was about to say was private, he then reportedly launched into the tirade before an audience of at least one other district employee also present in the room.
Leddy has been placed on administrative leave, and school district officials will, according to local reports, recommend his immediate termination.
“The principal self-reported to our administration that he had indeed left the message, thought the call had disconnected, and then continued talking,” Wissahickon School District superintendent Mwenyewe Dawan said in a statement to the community. “In the call, the principal can be heard making antisemitic comments and speaking disparagingly about the parent to another staff member who was in the office at the time.”
She added, “We moved swiftly with immediate action to start the process seeking the principal’s termination.”
According to the North American Values Institute (NAVI), education research nonprofit, Dawan has a close relationship with Keziah Ridgeway, a history and anthropology teacher in Philadelphia who promoted anti-Israel activism in the classroom. Ridgeway was placed on administrative last year for social media posts alluding to violence against certain Jewish parents whose names she allegedly posted on social media. Supporters of Ridgeway argue she was the victim of a smear campaign.
On Friday, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia rebuked Leddy’s comments, saying they betrayed a “mindset” that is indicative of a “broader, systemic issue.”
“The presence of others in the room, the lack of challenge or interruption, and the comfort with which these remarks were spoken raise serious questions about culture, accountability, and oversight within the school environment,” the group continued. “We understand the district is also investigating the involvement of others whose voices are audible on the recording, which is a necessary and appropriate step. Words spoken behind closed doors matter. When those words reflect bias, they erode trust and harm entire communities.”
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, the Wissahickon School District has been flagged for previously fostering what some parents described as antisemitic bias.
In June, it was revealed that the district is presenting as fact an anti-Zionist account of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to its K-12 students by using it as the basis for courses taken by honors students.
“On May 14, 1948, Israel declared itself an independent nation: Based on a [United Nations] Mandate but not supported by other countries in the region; Recognized by the US and much of the non-Arab world; Expelled up to 750,000 Palestinians from their land, an event called ‘al-Nakba,’” says the material, provided by virtual learning platform Edgenuity, which implies that Israel is a settler-colonial state — a false assertion promoted by neo-Nazis and jihadist terror groups.
“Nakba,” the Arabic term for “catastrophe,” is used by Palestinians and anti-Israel activists to refer to the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948. Based on documents obtained by The Algemeiner, the material does not seemingly detail the varied reasons for Palestinian Arabs leaving the nascent State of Israel at the time, including that they were encouraged by Arab leaders to flee their homes to make way for the invading Arab armies. Nor does it appear to explain that some 850,000 Jews were forced to flee or expelled from Middle Eastern and North African countries in the 20th century, especially in the aftermath of Israel’s declaring independence.
Another module reviewed by The Algemeiner contains a question based on a May 15, 1948, statement from The Arab League — a group of countries which adamantly opposed Jewish immigration to the region in the years leading up to the establishment of the State of Israel and refused to condemn antisemitic violence Arabs perpetrated against Jewish refugees — after Israel declared its independence. The passage denies that Jews faced antisemitic indignities when the land was administered by the Ottoman Empire, a notion that is inconsistent with the historical record, and asserts that “Arab inhabitants” are “the lawful owners of the country.”
One parent — who agreed to be interviewed at the time on the condition that she be allowed to speak anonymously because her young child still attends school in the Pennsylvania district — told The Algemeiner that antisemitism in WSD has long been a problem and that its inclusion in the curriculum will lead to anti-Jewish violence. The parent, who described feeling “isolated,” explained that the school district holds events which celebrate the cultures of every minority group except Jews.
The district reemerged in the news cycle again this month following reports that during a recent demonstration at Wissahickon High School, a Muslim student group festooned signs which said, “Jerusalem is ours,” offered cash prizes related to anti-Israel activism, and swayed school principal Dr. Lynne Blair into being photographed with them, a feat which, according to concerns members of the community, created the impression that anti-Zionism is a viewpoint held by the administration.
“Wissahickon leadership keeps insisting this was just a cultural event, but the community sees it for what it was — intimidation wrapped in keffiyehs and candy,” NAVI told The Algemeiner at the time. “Even a blind squirrel occasionally trips over a nut, and in this case, the nut is the explosive reality that schools are no longer neutral grounds. When a superintendent publicly supports one side of a geopolitical conflict inside a public high school, it stops being education and starts being indoctrination. Jewish students deserve better, and every school district in America should take notice.”
Earlier this month, administrative officials representing Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro vowed to monitor K-12 antisemitism in another major school district in Pennsylvania, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), citing rising incidents of hatred across the city.
“Governor Shapiro takes a back seat to no one on these issues, and as he has repeatedly spoken out about antisemitism, and this kind of hateful rhetoric is unacceptable and has no place in Pennsylvania — especially not in our classrooms,” Rosie Lapowsky, a spokesperson for Shapiro, said in a statement first shared with Fox News Digital. “This is a matter the governor has made clear the district needs to take very seriously.”
Lapowsky’s comments come days after the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce began investigating antisemitism in SDP, as well as other districts in Virginia and California, following reports of antisemitic invective, bullying, and inciting language regarding the murders of two Israeli embassy staffers earlier this year.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Netanyahu to Discuss Iran, Next Phase of Gaza Plan With Trump
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not pictured) after a trilateral meeting at the Citadel of David Hotel, in Jerusalem, Dec. 22, 2025. Photo: ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he will discuss Iran’s nuclear activities during his visit next week with US President Donald Trump.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israel was aware Iran had been conducting “exercises” recently, without elaborating.
Earlier on Monday, Iranian state media reported Iran had held missile drills in various cities during the day, the second such reported exercise in a month.
Western powers regard Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal as both a conventional military threat to Middle East stability and a possible delivery mechanism for nuclear weapons should Tehran develop them. It denies any intent to build atomic bombs.
Relations between eastern Mediterranean neighbors Israel, Greece, and Cyprus have grown stronger over the past decade, with shared concerns over Turkey’s influence in the region.
ISRAEL NOT SEEKING CONFRONTATION: NETANYAHU
Despite “great achievements” during a 12-day war with Iran in June, Netanyahu said basic Israeli and US expectations of Iran were unchanged, including lowering its uranium enrichment level.
“Obviously it will be an item in our discussions,” he said of his meeting with Trump next week, adding, “We are not seeking confrontation with” Iran but rather, “stability, prosperity, and peace.”
Still, Netanyahu said the focus of his discussions with Trump in Washington will be on moving to the next phase of Trump’s Gaza plan as well as dealing with Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists.
He cited Israel‘s “desire to see a stable sovereign Lebanon” and efforts to prevent the blocking of international shipping by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi forces.
Netanyahu, Mitsotakis, and Christodoulides agreed to deepen security cooperation, while Netanyahu said the three countries intended to advance an initiative to connect India to Europe via the Middle East by sea and rail.
Christodoulides described the projects as offering a “southeastern gateway connecting Europe with the Middle East and beyond.”
The three countries said they would seek to advance an undersea power cable project to integrate their electricity grids with Europe and the Arabian Peninsula.
Mitsotakis said Greece was a gateway for liquefied natural gas. “[It] is a new energy hub in southeastern Europe.” Interconnection projects, he said, remained a key priority for the three countries.
Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen told Reuters after the press conference the trilateral meeting was important since it comes when there are “countries that are working to uproot regional stability.” He did not identify the countries.